Friday, May 28 2004
Warriors of Clay
got home from work on Tuesday n dad told me we were gonna go watch The Terracotta Warriors, an “action-musical” on Thursday night (last night).
can’t remember the last time i’ve seen a show w/ my parents, & they haven’t been to a live show in years, so when they heard that the show’s run was ending on May 30th they decided to grab some tickets.
the venue for the show was The Centre in Vancouver (formerly the Ford Centre) located just across the street from the downtown Vancouver Public Library, which is modeled after an ancient coliseum. haven’t been there in years, & after dinner we still had time to kill before the show, so we took a walk around inside, grabbed some coffee, looked around…it was nice.
got into the theatre 15min. early n we saw a big lineup. some diamond company was having a contest where they had a giant martini glass filled w/ “diamonds” (hundreds of fakes, only two real ones) & you get to go up & choose one. they look @ the one you pick w/ that jewler’s eye-thingy (u know, the thing Uncle Scrooge always carries around in his back pocket?) & if you’ve picked a REAL diamond you get to keep it. i couldn’t resist! but sadly, i didn’t win…even though i tried to “sniff” the real diamonds out. i SWEAR, real diamonds smell different! the security guard didn’t seem to appreciate my efforts though, gave me a funny look when i bent down to take a whiff @ the rocks. paranoid buffoon! what, u think I’m gonna snort ‘em up n take ‘em home? yeeesh…anyways, onto the show!
we were sitting pretty close, too close actually. we were literally in the front row, close enough to see those white, pasty, hairless, shins from Shaolin. i was worried we’d miss out on being able to see the “entire” set & miss out on some action etc…but it wasn’t that bad @ all. it’s the first time i’ve ever been this close for a live theatre performance, & it’s definitely a different experience being so up close n personal w/ the action.
@ one point, the “Emperor” was doing this sequence w/ a sword, doing all these crazy ass moves…i was secretly hoping maybe his palms would be a tad too slippery from perspiration, & that during one of his manoueveurs the sword would slip out of his hands, soar through the air off the stage, go flying tip first straight @ a poor petrified girl in the front row, threatening to bury itself hilt-deep in her left nostril, & then @ the last second i’d catch it! imagine that! i’d be a HERO, & then i’d bring the beauty home! (the sword of course, nevermind the girl w/ the big nostrils)
ANYway…but yeah, by the time the thoughts mentioned above floated through my head, the Emperor was done and he’d managed to hold onto the sword. so, no souvenirs for me =(
the percussionist was fun to watch; he was surrounded by all these crazy drums n bells…and man that gong!! i SO wanted to just run up there n smash that thing. he opened each act by smashing it w/ this big mallet three times. that was so cool…i swear, if i’d had a camera w/ me i’d have run up there after the show n taken a picture w/ that thing…never mind the emperor’s many concubines, or the peasant girls in miniskirts, i wanna shot w/ the gong!!
i think i would’ve even agreed to pay like $10/shot to be able to go up there & whack that thing; Boooonnngg….or more like, Krooonnnnggg…..iono, but it sounded damn cool! imagine if you woke up to that sound every morning? having some guy smash a gong like that as your alarm clock? so cool…or no wait, how bout sounding the gong every time before a meal? now THAT would be just too cool…..ok i think i should stop about this gong stuff…..Kroooonnnggg….
oh yeah, n the “Emperor”? that dude was cool…man, for those UW ppl who thought Pai Mei was cool when we went to see “Kill Bill 2”, you aint seen nothin’ yet till you see the Qin Emperor! they had these 2 lil kung fu kids performing too, must’ve been around 8-10, true Shaolin kids! man, i wish my mom would’ve let met take kung fu…*sigh*…i just had to settle for being named after a ninja turtle…
about being in the front row again, i think we were lucky there was a lot of movement on stage throughout the whole production (fight scenes, acrobatics, musicians), all within our field of vision too. these elements definitely made it more interesting & easy to watch for front row-sitters than if it had been a play/musical laden w/ long stretches of dialogue & soliloquies.
it was really different seeing everything so up close; to see their bodies flip & fly through the air @ such a close distance, i could even see their facial expressions. the ease w/ which they do it is really amazing when you’re that close, feels different than when you’re watching from far away or on TV. sure it’s not quite as flashy/spectacular as some Chinese kung fu films, but then you have to remember these actors are doing it live, right before you, & w/ no wires or special effects. pretty impressive. the Vancouver engagement ended May 30th, then they’re in TO (June 8-27 @ the Elgin Theatre), & end off the tour in Denver (July 6-18). those out East should consider going, you won’t be disappointed!
Saturday, May 29 2004
Rain, rain, go away…
- Summer BBQ #1 (@ Cultus Lake) -
- Started meeting up @ Buck’s around 11am (planned meeting time was 1030), less than 10 of us to begin w/
- After most ppl finally dragged their asses out of bed we ended up leavin for Cultus around 12ish w/ around 20 bodies
- Weather was ok till 5ish, then the LATE latecomers showed up, & brought the RAIN w/ them!
- Kept bbqing despite the drizzle, but then it started comin down hard & that’s when our “Lord of the Flies” instinct took over
- Everyone scrambled to grab stuff n bring it under cover; under trees, under tables, or inside the cars
- Group somehow got divided up into 2 “countries”, about 50 feet away from each other underneath separate trees (well, minus the one group hot-boxing the Pathfinder)
- One “country” had all the meat, the other had the bbq, one had the drinks, the other had the chips & snack food
- We started bargaining & sending items back n forth betw. “countries”; trading people for people, people for food, equipment for food, drinks for cigarettes etc… it’s times like these i wish i had camera…
- Wanted to merge to continue bbqing, but couldn’t decide which “country” to immigrate too
- Eventually our side won out cuz we had more room, the 2 “countries” united under our cover, kept bbqing underneath the trees, left some time after 1800
- On the drive home we were driving a few cars behind this huge rig carrying a bunch of wood on Highway 1, when one of the tires exploded
- When we first noticed something we thought it was wood falling off the truck, but then we saw the chunks of tire shooting up through the air
- Man, imagine how it would’ve been if I’d been riding near that thing? haha, that could’ve been game over…
Sunday, May 30,2004
- went to BAC (Emily n Becky’s church) for Sunday service
- Pastor Tim (another Tim) spoke on parenting, the last sermon of a series he'd been preaching on
- Pretty interesting, next month’s series is on *gasp….Marriage?! hmmm, wonder if i should go…lol
Monday, May 31, 2004
- got to be tour-guide today
- St. George’s University of the UK wants to shoot a promo commercial in our building
- Apparently, a number of ppl film stuff in our building (Blade 3 was filmed here?! yeah, there’s gonna be third…) & i just found out that the position I’m covering takes care of that stuff so…mr. Lee (yeah that’s me) get’s to represent BCIT while giving a tour of an 8-storey building he’s not even familiar with. lovely…(thank goodness i wore my glasses today, @ least i felt smarter!)
- Tour was nothing special though, just showed Tonya the photographer around the building for 15 minutes, she took some photos, that was it
- Rest of the day was pretty boring, but ahh... got free food @ the end of the day. Mmm…danishes….
Tuesday, June 1, 2004
- Same ‘ol @ the office
- After work, tried out “Fit City” (gym in the basement) for the first time, not too bad; decent place, not enough free weights, but enough for a quick workout
- After an hour or so @ the gym, hopped on the skytrain to go meet mom @ Taisho in Metropolis for dinner @ 7, mmm…sushi…
- Decided not to get all-you-can-eat, mom wasn’t up to it, so we just got 2 boats (each w/ chicken/beef teriyaki, assorted sashimi, cali roll, dynamite roll, miso soup, fruit, & rice), plus my usual extras
- However, when my oyster motoyaki came i didn’t know whether to laugh @ the diminutive shellfish or start crying in disbelief.
- i ended up just staring @ for a while after the server put it down on the table. i swear, they were like half the size they usually are! ah well, half the size means half the fat i guess right? should try being healthy…
So was the dinner good or bad? Let’s sum up:
(+) decent price: 2 boats, scallop-tobiko roll, oyster motoyaki = $42 after tax & tip
(-) PUNY oyster motoyaki
(+) cute waitress
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yeah i think I’ll be back...
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…for the FOOD of course! =P
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aannnnnnnnnd THAT’S the kind of week it’s been! hmm, today is wednesday. i think i'll go grab a McChicken for $1.81...mmmm...until next time…( . )